School board reviews third draft of 2026–27 staffing allocations, sets agenda for May workshops

At a workshop, district staff presented the third draft of 2026–27 staffing allocations and walked the board through school-level changes and formula adjustments. "The total came down to 43.5," presenter Miss Tenagero said, describing adjustments across assistant superintendents, EAC support facilitator teachers, deans, and ESE paraprofessional totals.

Tenagero told the board the changes include reverting a prior adjustment to an Avon Park High AP position, a net decrease of one EAC support facilitator unit (58 total), a reworked formula for deans to better reflect FTEs (redistributing eight deans across middle schools), a net increase of one ESE self-contained teacher unit (53 total), a net decrease of one IDEA ESE paraprofessional (64 total), and a net increase of two general-fund ESE paraprofessionals (40 total). She emphasized school-by-school increases and decreases drive the net figures and said federal grant awards that affect final dollars were not yet available.

Board members pressed for clarity about the district'sTitle dollars and overall funding. Staff said the Title dollars exist at the state level but final district allocations depend on state calculations; Tenagero and Dr. Longshore said the awards were expected in mid-May and that the board might need a final workshop after grant numbers are released. A meeting official clarified the May 11 special meeting was noticed specifically to discuss and determine district-office job descriptions and that May 20, the regular meeting, could be used for deeper follow-up or final action if needed.

Several board members asked staff to prepare numeric scenarios showing how proposed changes would affect salaries and total dollars so the board could act efficiently at its May meetings. Tenagero agreed to provide advance figures where possible, noting some items may remain "vague" until federal grants are finalized.

During public comment, Jean Federico, president of HCEA, asked the board to correct a rumor from an earlier workshop and clarified that the numbers shown "in red" on page 21 were not proposed cuts but represented current allocations or planned hires "assuming the money is there"; she said the district has not yet received full grant-award details.

The board moved to narrow the focus for the May 11 workshop to district-office job descriptions, asked staff to deliver scenario numbers in advance where feasible, and deferred final adjustments that depend on federal grant awards to a later workshop or the May 20 regular meeting.